Maryland's Thirty-Eighth Hero

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Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, 20, of Finksburg, Md.; assigned to Combat Service Support Group 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; died March 3 from a non-combat-related vehicle accident in Anbar province, Iraq.

HE HAD AN UNWAVERING SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY

Julie Snyder, Matthew’s mother, was too saddened to talk, but she allowed her sister, Cathy Menefee, to speak for the family. She [spoke of] of his keen sense of humor and an unwavering sense of responsibility, which culminated in his decision to join the military.

“It’s sounds so cliche, but he died doing what he wanted to do,” Menefee said. “He always wanted to be a Marine.”

He was the middle of three children, with sisters Sarah Snyder, 22, of Hanover, Pa., and Tracie Snyder, 18, who lives with their father in York, Pa.

Reached by telephone at his home Monday night, Albert Snyder wept.

“I just want it to be over,” the father told the newspaper. “And I want answers. They said he was the gunnery on top of the Humvee and the Humvee rolled. When is this senseless war going to end?”